Cold Steel
by DirectorJuno
Summary: Alot has changed in 10 years, a new company named Vector has replaced Genom. My team is gone, and I'm feeling less human every day. Crossover with Tenchi, and Xenosaga First person perspective, told by Priscilla Asagiri.On Hiatus indefinitely.
1. Tainted Sanctuary

This is a work of fanfiction; I do not own any of the characters, or pre-existing story elements. If anything in here does belong to me, I'll be sure to claim it.

**Cold Steel, Chapter 01**

**Tainted Sanctuary**

Wow, she sure is pretty. I hope I don't regret helping her; it's been years since I did anything for someone besides myself, however, I get the ominous feeling she's either a blessing or an omen of my undoing.

Whatever the case, I pulled her from the harbor; she's in my hands now, still better than the worthless government finding her. I wonder how long till she wakes up, or if she'll wake up, I should take her to a hospital, but they wouldn't help. Besides, she's not normal anyway, for her relatively small size, about 5' 9"; she weighs over four hundred pounds. But she doesn't look over a hundred and thirty, there is no way she is a normal human, and I am no hypocrite.

For thirteen days now I sit here and stare at this embodiment of physical perfection, and she has yet to move a muscle.

::FLASHBACK::

Priss stands at the end of a private pier, singing one of her songs to the wind, enjoying a brief moment of peace.

The sound is heard first, but only moments before the impact, a light blue streak enters the harbor with enough force to create a wave that destroys the local piers and lighthouses. Priss, knowing this means suits will be here, makes haste to depart, when she catches glimpse of a figure in the water, and a blue glow surrounding the figure.

Priss froze, caught in an inner debate of morals; she stood motionless for minutes, only brought back to reality by the approaching sound of helicopters. Without reason she quickly pulled the naked body from the water, immediately noting the unnatural beauty of the young lady she was rescuing, proceeded to wrap her in her overcoat and carry her home, or at least the dump that Priss' hideout resides in.

::END FLASHBACK::

Looking after a comatose individual is very much like taking care of an infant, except the coma victim doesn't complain when something is wrong, you have to keep checking on them.

Now I swore to myself I'd never change dirty diapers, but something had to be done when she peed all down my back and pants while I carried her to my place. After I found her lying in a puddle of her own waste a couple times, I decided to do what was right for both of us.

So I robbed a pharmacy warehouse up north, and stocked up on supplies for caring for the incapacitated. I feel like I'm caring for an infant, though feeding her has proved to be the most complicated part, she began losing color after a couple days, I started to worry, then my stomach grumble solved my worry for her, now I feed her baby food and warm milk, it goes down easily enough, with little risk of choking or drowning her. Now she gets my bed, the 4th new mattress in 2 weeks, and I sleep on my busted old couch.

She is in diapers all the time now, because I got tired of having to go steal a new mattress every couple days. It's kinda funny, I got pictures, a little something to show her when she wakes, assuming she don't try to kill me for babying her over these weeks, I couldn't resist, she is just adorable sleeping in nothing more than a diaper. I can feel myself becoming attached, even though we've never spoke.

She opened her eyes once, for about 3 seconds, and wow does she have the deepest, brightest blue eyes I've ever seen, unfortunately, she didn't respond to me.

My hideout is a dismal place, I realize this only after I look at what she's gonna see when she finally wakes, so I start my project of "fixing up" this abandon boat house I call home.

Its early summer and its hot all day long, so often I'm working or cleaning in just my underwear, If only Nene or Linna could see this, they'd never let me live it down. That thought made me realize I haven't visited Linna since I found my charge, and once I feel that I can leave her alone I'll be right back over there to see my old friend, and tell her of my newest adventure.

I know she cannot respond, but I believe she still hears me, so I continue to visit and talk with her whenever I can, and I know she gets another occasional visitor, sometimes there are flowers when I come. Well, now its time to start preparing for my next strike against Vector, this time I'm going for a research facility disguised as a hospital.

Vector, very quickly took Genom's place at the top of my shit list, by doing the same cover-up nonsense, and lies, and not accepting responsibility for what they cause. Vector may be a much larger company that Genom ever hoped to be, but they are still just as easy to hit.

Weapon of choice tonight is my .50 cal Desert Eagle and a couple clips, shouldn't need any more than that. One last look at my sleeper, "Sleep well, I'll be back later." Now for the thirty minute ride there.

This place was actually quite easy to get into, plus all of the guards were robots, so I didn't have to worry about subduing them. The company is my enemy, not the employees, this way I have no guilt on my conscience, only that wonderful warm fuzzy feeling.

One shot made quick work of all of the locks up to here, however, this is a solid steel security door, and I hate this part. One solid punch, near the lock and, "Damnit, that fucking hurts!" The entire lock assembly is in pieces, and the door is nearly folded in half, but I'm in.

Blood is dripping on the floor from my hand, it's a good thing I can't break it. Well, I'd guess I can punch with about two tons of force, by the looks of that door it's the strongest door I've hit yet. Quickly I'm on top of the guard that was behind the door, but this one is human, so I destroy his weapons and radio, take his keys and lock him in the nearest room, a lounge, on the way out I tear the phone off the wall. "Sit there, and shut up, and don't worry I'm not gonna hurt anyone."

Next up is to decide which lab to hit first, second one on the left it is. Inside is a clean room, lots of computers, not much else, in a couple minutes that lab is nothing more than scrap computer hardware, yes I hate this company enough to mindlessly destroy their work.

Onto the next, directly across the passageway, this one is much like the last, except one thing, the computers are on, and on a table in the room's center is an odd looking device. Judging by its fixation on a plain white mannequin head, I'd assume it's a form of extrasensory optics, uber shades as some would put it. It's a titanium band with a lighted blue stripe across the center, simple, I like it. So I guess I'll try them on.

The moment it contacted my head is a moment I will never forget. Searing, all consuming agony, like your brain being electrocuted, it felt like an eternity before I passed out. I freaked when I came to, still not sure how long I was out, and then I noticed how unusual my vision was. Everything has a sleight blue hue, it's a heads-up-display, like some aircraft, it shows a full system diagnostic, it seems as though my boomers adapted it. I'll try this for a while, but I need to hurry to the next lab.

The next two were pointless, lots of computers; I'd guess software development, no other gear of any kind present. Software doesn't interest me, so I simply destroyed everything here. But the last door is another story, another reinforced steel door, wow, and the optics are showing just that, I think I'm gonna like this new toy.

Now comes the painful part again, so I draw back again, but this time something happens before I can swing, something different. Linked metal plates cut their way through my skin, though it doesn't hurt, and within a second they've formed flexible armor plating from my shoulder to fingertips. "Oh my..." I stared in wonder for a moment, and then destroyed the reinforced door in one easy swing, without pain. "I guess they're becoming even more adaptive, this is getting kinda weird."

I proceeded into the largest of the labs here; first thing I take note of is the freight elevator at the far end, then the tubes. They resemble cryo chambers, I guess, tall metal and glass cylinders, with a bluish fluid and, well, people in some of them. But they do not look like normal people, they're all part machine, like me, but they are cyborgs.

I'm quite different, the worlds first successful human-boomer hybrid. My presence in the room triggered more lights, and now I can see the researcher hiding in the corner, once he sees me he gets up and approaches me. "What the hell are you doing wearing those, the implants aren't even completed, how are you wearing..."

Ok, I don't want to listen to this. "Shut up old man, what are you doing here so late!?" I started moving towards him, gun pointed at him, and crazy armor plating still on my arm.

"I live here, ain't got nowhere else to go."

That's pathetic, "Well, consider yourself unemployed, now get the hell outta here!" I think I might have been a little too loud there, but he took off none the less. Alright what do we have in here, computers, great, more crap to destroy, but these are hooked up to those cryo looking' tubes. I'm not gonna risk hurting those people, if they're alive at all.

Oh, a notebook PC, that's going in the bag, but when I unhook it, one of the tubes comes to life. It looks like its only parts inside, nobody whole at least, and then a crane system in the ceiling picks up the pod and carries it over to a large black van, and loads it inside.

Then it hits me, that vehicle, its Sylia's mobile pit, only black. I'm taking that, at the very least I will get a lot of money for it, and then there is a big crash and a lot of commotion at the end of the passageway, where I came in. "And that's my queue to leave." I announce to nobody in particular. So I jam the destroyed door in the doorway, hop in the van and head to the elevator.

On the streets they give chase, but this is my city, within fifteen minutes I've totally lost them. A couple minutes with these nifty shades and I've found and removed both tracking devices from the van, and quick trip back for my bike, then it's straight to home sweet home.

First thing when I get home, I get the ominous feeling that someone was here. After hiding the van, I make a quick check of my place, and find that none of my tattle tales were tripped. Everything is as it was, and the blue-haired mystery is still sleeping on my bed, but what was that ugly feeling. "Oh well, I hope its nothing." Now onto my late night dinner and some well earned sleep.

Three shrouded figures float about a hundred feet up near a certain run down boat house, quietly observing. The middle one, a small figure, says in a young girls voice, "Well girls, I think you're right when you say we'll be talking to them soon, the android that is currently non-functional is Vector property, however, it has a temporal trace signature from late in the 69th century."

"Really, are we gonna have to fix that mess in time as well?" The one on the left queried.

"We won't know that until I can discern whether her presence here and now is natural, or engineered. The other girl there has my interest as well, even though she is a local, she is not human, at least not anymore, and she bears a deep rooted hatred for Vector."

The third responds, much quieter than the other two, "So, when do we make contact?"

"Soon, very soon."

Author's Notes:

Well, first off I'm sorry to everyone who's been waiting for chapter 5 of Matron Draconus. I swear, I haven't given up, I'm just at a bit of a block, I've even started putting together future chapters, just can't put the current one together, and have it flow with what I'm intending. If anyone has suggestions for Ranma's first meeting with the Tendo's, I'm all ears

Anyway, this little piece here. I wrote this about 4 years ago, and never posted it online, in fact it hasn't even been proof read by anyone. I have more chapters already written, I just need to type them up, and make sure my horrible formatting is correct. Please, R&R. And I promise, I am working on MD, I'm just kinda stuck.


	2. Reparations

This is a work of fanfiction; I do not own any of the characters, or pre-existing story elements. If anything in here does belong to me, I'll be sure to claim it.

**Cold Steel, Chapter 02**

**Reparations**

I awoke with a start in the early morning, not sure why, but I knew something wasn't right. I looked around my hideout, and everything seemed normal, then my stomach turned when I saw my bed, empty. "Oh no, where is she."

I started looking, franticly searching for her, till I found the pier-side door wide open, and before I knew it, I was outside, in the freezing cold. I stopped in my tracks just a few feet outside the door, when a breeze hit, and chilled me right to the bone. Then I saw her, standing on the end of the pier, her long cerulean hair blowing in the wind, just staring out to sea.

So I approached her, and she turned to face me when I got close, again I'm taken aback by her unnatural beauty. "Hi, how are you feeling?" She just stares at me, not responding, unmoving. "Lets go back inside where it's warmer, we're both standing out here nearly naked, come with me." She glanced at the open door, then back at me and gave a sleight nod, so I reached out and took her hand, and slowly led her back inside.

I walked her to the bed and we sat down, "Well, I'm glad you're finally awake, how do you feel?" I sat quietly, hoping she would respond, it felt like minutes went by, but then she spoke.

"Are you the one that has been caring for me?"

"Yes, well, I've done what I could. I've never been a caretaker before." Then she leaned over and hugged me, I didn't know what to do or say, so I hugged back. We stayed that way for a few minutes, until I heard her sniffle, then I straightened her up, she's crying. "Its ok, you're safe here, what's the matter?"

She whimpered, between sniffles, "I don't know, I don't know anything."

So I embraced her again, tighter and closer this time, "It's alright. Don't worry about it right now."

"But I can't remember anything at all, not even where I came from."

Oh, this just got a lot more complicated, "Okay, can you remember your name?" I'm trying to sound as calm and soothing as I can.

"I... I think my name is Kosmos, but everything else is a blank." She buried her face in my chest, bawling her heart out, and I held on, slowly rubbing her back till eventually she calmed down.

"Its okay, Kosmos, you can stay with me as long as you want, till your memory comes back, or longer, I kinda like taking care of you, so don't worry about anything. Now let's wrap up in a couple blankets so we don't catch cold." I quickly wrap her up and then myself, and sit back down on the bed.

Again, I sit on this pier, alone, and cold. What am I doing, I'm a wanted criminal, and I have killed hundreds, even innocents. And yet I'm trying to take care of a girl, whom is definitely not human, why do I feel so driven to help 'her'.

The only people I've ever felt this way towards is the Knight Sabers, so why her.

Then a familiar voice from behind me, "Why do you sit in the cold?"

"Oh, I'm just thinking, about what to do next." So I stand up and walk with her back inside, and get dressed, in my usual leather and whatnot. "I'm gonna go visit a friend of mine in the hospital, we're old comrades, and she was hurt really bad a while ago. Do you mind staying here, I'm afraid of what would happen if the wrong person saw you, just do your best to hide if anyone shows up, okay?" I give her a comforting smile.

"Okay, I guess I need some time to think as well."

"I'll be back in about two hours, take care." With that I strode outside, hopped on my bike and left, for the hospital where Linna is being treated.

This time there are no flowers when I arrive, oh well. So I sit in the chair near her bed, it's a good thing she gets her own room, I don't have to constantly look over my shoulder, I can relax.

"Well, I'm sorry it's been so long since I last visited, I've been busy, and you'd be surprised by what I've been doing. I'm taking care of a foreign girl, she has full on amnesia, and she's not human. And to top it off, she is an emotional wreck, so you could say I've had my hands full for the last couple weeks."

Then I realize the door was opened during my rambling, and there stands a short blonde with tears welling up in her eyes. I quickly stand up, "Nene..." I didn't know what to think, a tear formed in my eye.

"Priss?" she dropped the flowers she brought, "Priss!" she cried, and ran up and hugged me tighter than anyone ever has, bawling like a baby. Then the door slowly shuts itself, which I barely notice. I hugged her, trying my best not to cry with her.

A few long, heart-felt moments later, she pulls back, "Where have you been Priss?" She couldn't stop sniffling, still almost crying, and shaking.

So I sit her down next to Linna's bed, and wipe the tears from my eyes. "Oh Nene, I'm happy to finally see you again, and I'm sorry for disappearing for so long."

"Why Priss, why did you leave us for so long?" She sat there, crying into her hands, unable to say anymore.

"Nene, I'm a wanted criminal, I've been hunted for ten years, and I didn't want you getting caught up with me."

"I would have rather been on the run with you, than alone this last decade."

"Oh Nene, I'm sorry, I've been thinking about you and Linna all the time."

"What have you been running from, why did you have to leave?"

I pause for a moment, then walk to the other side of the room, "Nene, I'm a boomer now, the last time I used the Hard Suit the nano-boomers in the ener-metal got into my bloodstream."

She just stared, blankly, so I held out my right arm and extended the new armor plating, from shoulder to hand. Then she gasped in obvious surprise, "Nene, they've been changing me, more and more everyday, I've done horrible things, I've killed many people, and I'm only now learning to control these boomers."

"But, you're still Priss, no matter what they make you do, we're still friends, we always will be." Nene stands up and walks up and hugs me again, "Priss, will you let me join you again, can we be real friends again?"

"Nene, I would never tell you no, but I don't live very comfortably, and you know the risk involved."

"Those things don't matter to me; we can help each other make things better."

Nene sits back down near Linna, and embraces her cold hand with her own. "Linna will need our help as well, when she wakes up, she's gonna be on her own." She starts crying again,

"What do you mean Nene, she should go back to her family, and they can take care of her, much better than we ever could."

Her crying intensifies, "That's the problem, her family has disowned her, for being involved with the boomer terrorist Sylia Stingray." A tear forms in my eyes again; I can't believe they would do that, damned old fashioned, closed minded people.

"Nene, we are her family now, the three of us will take care of each other, and we'll get by just fine. When she wakes up, we should be here smiling and waiting to take her home."

"Oh Priss, I'm so happy you came back, things will get better for all of us now."

Then we heard a soft voice, from right between us, "I'm happy we're all together again, I've missed you two, and I'm not sad about what my family said, because we have each other." A small smile appeared on Linna's face.

"Linna." we both said in unison and Nene and I both embraced her, as we all cried together, tears of joy, and the kind I haven't shed in years.

I stood first, wiping my tears, and then I realized I have to go now. "I hate to do this, but I have to go now, the doctors will be by soon, and I can't be here, but I'll be back soon, and we'll work everything out, and you two need to meet my new roommate, she's one of a kind." And with that I left.

One quick stop on the way, for some needed money, and I'll be heading home. This is easy, I stop at a bank, and tear the ATM machine out of the wall, rip it open and load up on cash, and then I'm off, before anyone shows up.

On the freeway nearing home a squad car comes up behind me, and hits their sirens. Not wanting anymore drama tonight, I pull over, and wait to see what happens. Two officers exit they're vehicle, and approach me, and then I recognize one of them, "Leon." I say, surprised to see him on traffic duty again.

"It's you!" The other officer, a female, says loudly, as she reaches for her holstered weapon.

That's my queue, and within five seconds I'm gone, quickly taking lots of side streets to avoid being followed, and I park, shut off the bike and wait a few minutes, to make sure I'm clear, before heading home.

The remainder of my ride home is uneventful, thankfully, and everything is calm when I pull up to my humble abode.

As I step inside my heart skips a beat, the place looks totally different. Its clean, all the piled up junk is gone, the floor, walls, everything looks different. Then I notice Kosmos, quietly sitting on the bed, with a smile on her face, she looks at me when I walk in.

"Oh, you're back, I hope you don't mind, I cleaned up a bit here." I look around again, the place looks immaculate, and she did all this in only a few hours.

"Definitely not human." I mumble to myself, "Wow, I don't know what to say, the place looks amazing, I don't know how to thank you for this."

She walks up and hugs me, "It's the least I could do for what you've done for me." She smiles, and sits back down on the bed.

"Well, let's start with getting you some real clothes; I think you'll fit in mine just fine." I dig some of my more casual clothes out of the now organized dresser. "Try these on." I set a few things on the bed next to her, and she goes right to it. A few minutes later she's done, and looking almost like a local, save the blue hair.

"Well, my good friend woke up today; it was a wonderful surprise for us."

"Woke up? Was she in a comatose state?" She looks genuinely concerned.

"Yes, much like you, only longer, nearly ten years."

Now she looks almost hurt, "How was she when she woke up?"

"As good as someone could be in her condition." My sharpness in that statement made her turn away, "She lost both legs and her left arm in an unlawful attack by Vector, however, she is in good health."

She looks like she wants to cry, "Can't the medical system provide her with replacements?"

"Unfortunately, her family has cut her off from any financial support, she can't pay for any further treatment, so the hospital will be releasing her soon, and then she'll be on her own." This almost brought a tear to my eyes, and I sit down on the bed, a little more depressed.

"Priss, I think I might know a way to help your friend," she takes me by the hand, "Come with me." She proceeds to lead me to the black mobile-pit van, parked in the back of the boathouse.

As we enter the mobile-pit, I'm still not sure what Kosmos has to show me here, but her determination has my interest. "You said her family will not help her anymore, and the medical system will soon discharge her, correct?"

"Yes, that's the problem."

"Well, we can help, as long as she is willing to let us." Kosmos then turns on the interior lights, and motions towards the containment unit in the rear of the van, and that's when I realize what her intentions are. In the unit are mechanical components, cybernetic, to be specific. Four replacement limbs and the support structure to go with, a complete leg pair, and a pair of arms.

"Oh, I see, but Kosmos, I'm not a doctor, I couldn't do an operation like that."

She turns around to the other end of the vehicle, "You wouldn't have to, it's all automatic, and the computers would control the whole process." I let out a big smile and a tear this time, before I embrace her in an almost loving hug.

Then another question enters my mind, and I pull back, "Kosmos, how do you know all this?"

And she smiles, "You were correct when you stated that I'm not human, while I was cleaning I found this vehicle, and interfaced with the onboard computers, it granted me full Vector executive access, and taught me everything in its memory."

I'm only a little surprised by this, but worried at the same time, have I been infiltrated. "So you're from Vector then?"

"No, I knew nothing of Vector before interfacing with that system, and there is nothing in they're records of me, or anyone like me, I still do not know my origins, but I assure you, it's not Vector."

Even with no real proof, I still believe her, "I hope for both our sakes you're right, well, now I must leave again, to go get our new patient, I'll be back soon."

Again the same three women are observing from a distance, the middle-sized one speaks first, "Are they going to be able to perform the operation they are planning?"

"But of course, little Mary knows exactly what she's talking about in there, except one thing, her and Vector have more in common than either of them realize." The shorter one seems to know more than the other two.

"Mary? Where did that come from?" The taller one questions in a sarcastic tone.

The little one replies in a sharp, but playful tone, "Since you must know, little Ryoko, Mary is her true name, KOS-MOS is only the name of her project."

"How do you know things like that?"

The little one smiles, "Because I'm a genius, what else would you expect?"

Author's Notes:

Well, here's number two, I'll have the next up soon. Don't worry about back story, things will be explained as the story progresses, and besides, I could write a whole other fic, just covering the back story for this one. Should I……….please, R&R


	3. Renewal

This is a work of fanfiction; I do not own any of the characters, or pre-existing story elements. If anything in here does belong to me, I'll be sure to claim it.

**Cold Steel, Chapter 03**

**Renewal**

I'm in a hurry, but this time I'm on an important mission, so I don't risk any of my usual illegal activities. Instead I'm cruising, and calling Nene.

"Nene, its Priss."

"Hi Priss, what's up?"

"Do you have a car?"

"Yes, wait, what happened?"

"Nothing yet, just meet me in the parking lot behind the hospital where Linna is."

"Ok, but why?"

"Don't worry, I'll show you when we get there, I've got a surprise for Linna."

"Really, I'll be down there in about ten minutes."

"Thanks see ya then, bye."

A few minutes later I arrive at the Hospital, and proceed straight to Linna's room.

When I arrive she's awake, watching TV, "Oh, hi Priss, back so soon?"

"Yup, and I have some possibly very good news for you."

"Really, I could definitely use some right about now, I found out after you two left earlier that they will be discharging me tomorrow, and I don't have anything to go home to, let alone a home to go to." She seems really depressed about this.

"That's exactly what I'm here for, and a lot more, now will you come with me?"

"Sure Priss, as soon as I'm out I'll go wherever you have in mind, I'd rather be with you two than anywhere else."

"No, I'm talking about right now, are you ready for another chance?"

This one took her a while to respond, "Of course Priss, but you do realize you'll be charged with kidnapping."

"That doesn't matter to me; I'm already wanted for much worse."

"Ok, but I am gonna need your help, I can't exactly get around on my own."

With that I pick her up, and hold her tight with my left arm, "Brace yourself, we're taking the short way down."

She wraps her right arm tight around my neck, and I run straight for the open window, and jump. During the six story fall I quickly deploy my new found armor down my legs, up my back, and cover my right arm. Upon impact the concrete beneath me crumbles, and cracks shoot out fifteen feet in all directions, I stand up, and run for Nene's car, which looks like she just pulled up.

"Wow Priss, those boomers really done good for you." Linna says, with a renewed faith in my enhanced abilities.

When I get to the car, Nene has already got the passenger door open, so I set Linna In the seat, and Nene speaks her faith as well, "Wow Priss that was so cool, I wish I could do stuff like that."

"I bet you do, now Nene, follow me, It'll be fast for a couple kilometers, but we'll cruise the rest of the way, alright now go, head to the freeway, I'll catch up." And she took off so fast she ran my foot over. Seconds later the Hospital alarm sounds and I make a B-line for my bike.

A while later I've caught up with the girls, and I'm certain the police gave up the chase, I pull out the sensor visor I stole previously and quickly check my bike and Nene's car for any transmissions coming from a tracking device. Once I'm certain we're clean I lead the way back to my hideout.

Back at the boathouse, Nene gets out while I help Linna, "Alright girls, this is home sweet home, we'll hide your car in a minute, for now lets get inside. And so you know, I've got another roommate, but you'll like her, she's like us, only a little more different."

Once we're inside, "Now it's not much to look at, but we do what we can here." Then I notice two more beds set up, and Kosmos sitting quietly on the couch.

Kosmos gets up walks to us, "Girls, this is Kosmos, Kosmos these are my best friends and comrades, Linna and Nene."

Kosmos bows properly, "Pleased to meet you both, I've set up a couple extra beds, so I hope you'll be staying with us for a while."

Nene returns the bow, and Linna greets her warmly, "It's nice to meet you too, Kosmos."

"Wow," Nene looks a little surprised.

"Well, come in you three, relax, we've got a few things to discuss." Kosmos leads us to the couch, and I sit Linna down after Nene.

"Drinks girls, I've got a nice variety." All of us decide on something a bit potent.

A few drinks and a couple hours later, we're all in raised spirits, and a little drunk, I decide this would be a good time to show Linna her surprise, and hope she makes the right choice. "Well girls, I think its time for the highlight of the evening; I look to the slightly inebriated Linna, "Are you ready for your surprise?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, let's see it."

I stand up, a little wobbly at first, and fetch up Linna, "Nene, Kosmos, Follow me." We all head to the black mobile-pit in the back of the boathouse.

Nene is the first to speak up, "Oh my god Priss."

Then Linna, "It looks just like Sylia's mobile-pit."

"Yeah, that's what I thought when I saw it, and that's why I stole it from Vector."

"What, you mean Vector took Sylia's designs, those bastards!" Now Nene looks pissed, I hold back a laugh; she's always looked so funny to me when she's angry.

"Well, inside we go." and we all pile inside. Once inside I sit Linna in the seat facing the rear of the van, then they see what I brought them here for.

Linna asks first, "You got that from Vector, is it safe?"

Kosmos responds before I can open my mouth, "Yes, it is quite safe, I have thoroughly checked the entire system out, there are no bugs, and the process is entirely automatic, no doctors needed."

Linna looks to me for reassurance, and I simply smile at her, and she turns back, looking like she's ready now. "Ok, I never thought much about being part machine, but I have faith in you, I know you wouldn't let me do something that had any real problems, so let's do it."

Kosmos steps in, "One thing you need to know, the system requires you to be awake through the whole process for the brain stem links to work correctly, unfortunately this will be very painful, the alcohol will numb only a small portion of it, and the computer will keep you from passing out. Are you still sure?"

Linna looks a bit concerned, but responds immediately, "It's only pain, no matter how bad it is, it won't do any damage, right?"

"Correct, the pain will subside the instant the process is complete."

"Ok then, I hope you don't my screaming, because I know I will, a lot."

I proceed to pick her up, and carry her to the subject unit, and secure her in place, "Now Linna, these are combat grade robotics, so you're gonna be able to kick ass like never before." She lets out a smile of satisfaction, "I'm looking forward to it."

Nene sits near Linna, "Linna, don't worry, we'll be right here the whole time, and the mobile-pit is soundproof, so we don't have to worry about interruption, just bear with it, and we'll have another drink or two when the process is done, good luck."

What we witnessed thereafter is something I hope to never see again. They would cause a wound that looks fatal, install whatever segment or component, and regenerate the damage, all in seconds. Over and over, until her entire spinal column and upper skeletal structure has been reinforced, piece by piece.

Her screams were deafening, like a banshee, being tortured within an inch of its life; they only subsided when the reinforcement was completed, then came the connection of the robotic limbs. I could feel the electrical power in the air, hundreds of megawatts of power being surged through her body at the point of connection, all to provide a proper synchronization between her brain, and the control systems of the robotics.

Watching this agonizing procedure brings tears to all of our eyes, even Kosmos, this make me very thankful that my change has been gradual, and virtually painless.

As abruptly as it started, the process is completed, and after thirty minutes of torturous surgery, Linna is returned to the linkup bed where it started. Immediately she opens her eyes, and sits straight up, "Is it over already, it feels like it never started?"

Nene is the first to respond, through still fresh tears, "Linna, you mean you don't remember what just happened to you?"

Linna gives Nene a puzzled look, "It's over Linna, and from what we just witnessed, you're better off not remembering." I feel somehow relieved that she doesn't know what it was like, nobody should. "Linna, you just relax for a while, girls, what do you say we have that drink now, I think we need it more than Linna does."

Linna sits back against the wall, on the bed, and starts to look herself over. She lifts her right arm, and looks down at her mechanical hand. "This is weird, I expected this to take some getting used to, but they work just like mine did before." She then gets out of the bed and walks up to me, and takes her drink from me. "Wow, I half expected to break it when I tried to grab it, this is going to be great." And then she raises her glass up to eye level, "I propose a toast, to second chances."

"To second chances." we all say in unison, even Kosmos, though a little confused by the touching of glasses together.

After a few more drinks, we decide to go back into the boathouse, and figure something out for dinner. Upon exiting the van, Linna immediately embraces herself tight, "Oh my god, I just realized I'm walking around in just my underwear, damn its cold. Priss do you have some clothes here I can borrow?"

"Oh yes." I laugh a little, "Over there in the dresser behind the couch, but let me pick the long sleeve shirt, that arm of yours will tear up anything you wear, so we're gonna have to remove that sleeve. And I also suggest some short pants, I really only have leather pants, and I really like them as well." That brings out a good laugh from all of us, I'm very happy that this went smoothly, we all could use some good times again.

A short while later we're all sitting around a bunch of empty beer cans, and the remains of a simple dinner, when Kosmos suddenly stands up, and quickly looks around, "Everyone, we are not alone."

I jump up first, "What do you mean, who's here?" This can't be good, we're all drunk, and in no shape to fight.

"Multiple armed individuals are encircling the building." Linna looks instantly angry, and Nene is probably scared, considering she has no means of defending herself at the moment.

Kosmos looks at me, and I nod to her, and then deploy my armor, this time encompassing my entire body, and Kosmos states in an unusually monotone voice, "Entering combat mode at twenty seven percent capabilities." Then a very odd head piece materializes over her brow, down to cover her ears, and two short winglets stick up and back from there. This surprises everyone, including myself, and then sensor unit slides down from her head piece over her eyes, and exposes the most intricate and advance optics system I've ever seen. Kosmos quickly surveys the surrounding area, and turns back to me, "They are in tactical formations, and all are using active camouflage, they cannot be seen by human eyes."

I quickly pull out my sensor visor, and modify my head armor around it, then turn to Linna, "Linna, protect Nene, go to the mobile-pit, and hide in there. And be ready to haul ass out of here, if worst comes to worst."

"But Priss, I can help."

"I know, but you can't see them, please just stay close to Nene."

Kosmos puts a hand on my shoulder, "Ready yourself Priss, they are moving in." Then a white metal gun holster materializes on her right hip, which immediately slides open, and she draws a revolver with a red cylinder, and her right arm changes in a flash of atoms to a three foot long, glowing red blade.

Boy am I happy she's on my side, at that moment most of the upper windows shatter as multiple soldiers and smoke grenades come flying in. "Kosmos, show them no mercy, as they would show us none." Then I lung at my first target, using my weapons of choice, knuckle bombs, and booster kicks, I'm not much into guns.

My first two targets are gone in a flash of explosive punches, and shrapnel from the side of the building they went through, and their first volley of weapons fire does nothing to my armor. Kosmos is dispatching them with single headshots, or one lethal slash from her blade, she deals with five in the time I took care of two, damn, she has got to be a combat machine, and android, my combat abilities are easily five times that of my most advance Hard suit.

After this they come in greater numbers, and with heavier weaponry, this fight is turning against us quickly. A few moments later, I am caught off guard by a soldier with a forty millimeter, recoilless, anti-tank rifle, which makes short work of my right arm, destroying it entirely.

I am left with a bloody and torn mass of metal and flesh just below my shoulder, my ensuing scream of agony was unfortunately enough to distract Kosmos just long enough for one of they're semi-mechanized soldiers to land a series of seriously damaging blows, with some sort of energy blade weapon, to her left leg and arm, as well as her upper back, and the side of her head. The last attack which struck her leg bit very deep, and caused a massive electrical discharge, this sent a shower of sparks everywhere, and sent a powerful surge back through the assailant's weapon, and immediately caused it to detonate.

The explosion threw both of us across what remained of the boathouse, and I'm sure it knocked me out for a few moments, I tried to push myself up with my arms, which caused another surge of pain, sending me back to the floor, when I looked up, I saw Linna, wounded and bleeding, running from the mobile-pit, and screaming, "Run!"

I looked back towards Kosmos, whom was also having difficulties standing, and she looked towards me, with a look of true fear in her eyes. I once again made a futile attempt at standing, only end up right back on the floor, and then it hit me, "Linna!" I screamed, "Where's Nene!"

She ran straight to me, and scooped me up with her normal arm, which I don't understand, "They've taken her, but we've gotta run, the mobile-pit is gonna blow!" The she went for Kosmos, picking her up with the other arm, and made a twenty foot high jump out one of the destroyed windows. Just as we flew out, the mobile-pit detonated, and the huge explosion sent us flying a few hundred yards into nearby wreckage, the impact knocked me out again, this time I'm not sure how long.

A couple hundred miles away, under the wreckage of a once beautiful home, alarms begin going off in an amazingly expansive laboratory, "Damnit, those heartless Vector bastards, Ryoko!"

A moment later a tall and stunning cyan-haired woman runs up the distressed scientist, "What Washu, what happened?"

Then she looked down to the monitor displaying a far off view of the burning remains of the boathouse they had secretly visited only recently, a single tear formed, but never fell, before Washu spoke again, "Oh my god, they've decimated the place, Ryoko, go out there and look for survivors, bring any of them you find here, we may still be able to help, even if it is too late."

Ryoko turns red with hatred, "Damn them, why can't we use our powers now, damn this pisses me off to no end!"

"I've already told you Ryoko, that damn compass that Wilhelm has is nullifying most of our abilities, because the chaos aspect of it is not functioning, as long as that thing is in this galaxy, we are nearly powerless, be thankful you can still fly, now get going." With that Ryoko took off running for the door.

When I came to I was quickly reminded of how badly I was wounded back there by the ensuing pain, I looked around seeing that we ended up in a building that was also brought down by the explosion from the mobile-pit. I sat up, seeing Linna coming too as well, then I notice the still blazing remains of the boathouse, at least we weren't out long.

"I need help, I can't move." That was Kosmos, I look around, and eventually spot her mostly buried under structural wreckage.

"Hold on Kosmos, I'm coming." I say weakly as I manage to stand myself up, and work my way over to her, "Linna, can you walk, I need your help."

"I'm coming." Linna slowly works her way over to us.

"Help me lift this off her, I know its heavy, but we can do it." We both begin straining, letting out a roar off power and determination, we get it high enough for Kosmos to pull herself out before it crashes back down.

Kosmos tries to stand, but falls, still arcing electricity from the wounds on her leg, "I am unable to stand, or walk."

So Linna and I each place one of her arms over a shoulder, and slowly limp out of the rubble, when we reach flat ground we stop for a moment. "Linna, what happened to Nene?"

"They took her, I don't know how, but they got into the mobile-pit without opening any doors. They knocked her out and carried her off while four of them were beating the piss out of me, I don't know why, but they took her."

"She's right Priss, I am detecting no life signs or human remains in the boathouse wreckage, and she's not here."

Linna looks to me, "What do we do now Priss?" I don't know what to do now, this is almost a worst case scenario, "I'm not sure, but we can't stay here."

Kosmos cuts in, pointing ahead of us, "There, that vehicle has suffered only minor external damage, it is still fully functional."

I look ahead, and see Nene's car, covered by only minimal debris, "Linna, can you drive?"

"I think so, my left leg is busted pretty badly, but I think I can manage, come on, let's hurry out of here."

We make our way to the car as fast as we can, while Linna gets Kosmos into the back seat, I clear anything that might block out way out. In minutes we are pulling away from what was my home for the last ten years, I shed a few quiet tears, and a silent farewell to a faithful hideout.

About an hour later, we've been off road for about fifteen minutes; we decide to stop for a while near a small lake. We sit Kosmos up against a tree, and Linna manages to sit on a nearby log, while I gather some loose wood for a fire. After I start the fire with Kosmos' blaster I join Linna on the log, my bloody side away from her, "Well, for now let's rest a bit, but not sleep, not yet."

Linna leans and looks at what's left of my arm, "Priss, things have never been this bad for us, how are we gonna get through this, and Nene..."

"For now we have to take care of ourselves, we are in no condition to stage a rescue, and we can't go anywhere for help, face it, we're on our own." I look down at the fire, tears slowly rolling down my cheeks, and I can see Linna is crying as well.

This whole time Kosmos is silent, which begins to worry me, so I turn to face her, only a few feet away. "Kosmos, how are you doing, you look pretty banged up."

She responds in that monotone voice again, "I am locked in combat mode, primary drive system suffered eighty percent damage, sensors are completely down, and I'm down to standard senses. My energy reserves are at seven percent, and dropping, and my auto-repair system is offline, I estimate two hours at minimal power usage."

"Oh no, how much worse can this get, I wouldn't know where to start for fixing you, Damnit."

"Hello ladies." She startles Linna and I, Kosmos barely seems to notice, a woman walking up on top of the lake.

"Who are you, what do you want?" As I point Kosmos' blaster straight at her chest.

She puts both hands up, "I'm not your enemy, and I'm sorry for startling you, my name is Ryoko Hakubi, and I'm here to help you."

Linna and I just blankly stare, not sure what to say.

"I'm truly sorry, I tried my best to get to your boathouse earlier, but by the time I got there the damage was done, and you were already gone."

Wait a minute, something ain't right, "You were coming to help, you mean you knew what was happening."

"Well, sort of, with the first explosion we were alerted to the attack, and I left right away."

This time Linna cuts in, "Wait, what do you mean we?"

"My mother and I, we work underground, and I can tell you we are Vector's enemy as much as you are."

"Vector staged that attack, damn them those filthy bastards!" I'm angry, more so than I can ever remember.

"We have a place you can come, we can help fix and heal you. If you're willing." Linna and I look at each other, knowing that we need any help we can get at the moment; we turn back to our visitor and nod.

"Good, help me get your friend in your car, then just follow me." We did just that, we got Kosmos back into the car and we settled in and Ryoko took off flying above the road. Linna and I looked on in bewilderment as she flew, with no wings, no jet pack, just flying. Then we followed.

We drove for another hour following the mysterious woman dressed in black, still unsure of what to expect, or why we are even trusting her. I guess it just comes down to the fact that we are at the end of our wits, and truly have nowhere else to turn; I only hope that this is not a ploy from Vector.

We arrive at an all too familiar scene, rubble, the apparent remains of a quite large house, only about a hundred feet from another small lake. She stops and lands in front of us, turns and walks to the driver window of our car, "It'll be just a moment, follow me down in your car, we can't leave it out here."

I'm confused by this as I look around and see only rubble, and then a section of ground begins to rise, lifting tons of rubble, and exposing a metal tunnel leading downward. By the time it stops the opening is large enough to drive a semi inside, Linna and I are awestruck, and a bit hesitant to follow.

"Lets go, quickly, we can't stay in the open, Vector has satellites and that is why we must be underground." So we followed, down into the darkness, the tunnel illuminated only by our headlights.

After at least half a mile we enter a large parking area, there are no other vehicles here, but the place is big enough to park twenty of this car.

Once we stop another person comes running out of the only doorway down here, she looks young, maybe twelve, but she has very long pink hair tied up in a high ponytail, its still only a few inches from the ground. "Hurry girls, lets get all of you to the infirmary, Ryoko, carry the android, and I'll help the one with the damaged leg."

We get out of the car, Ryoko carries Kosmos, which is a feat in itself, and the little one helps Linna walk quickly out of the garage area, I simply follow, leaving a trail of blood behind me. A few corridors later we arrive at the infirmary, Kosmos is place on a bed, and Linna is help up on one as well. I sit down, not willing to lie down yet, I still have many questions that need answers, "Who are you people, and why are you so willing to help us?"

The little one looks to me, "My name is Washu Hakubi, and you have already met my daughter Ryoko, our third member is out right now, but she will be back within an hour or so. And as for your other question, like yourselves, Vector has done horrible things to us, and our family. There was once a beautiful house above ground here, and nine of us lived here. Our simple existence here on this planet is a threat to Vectors great plans, so we were attacked, and exterminated; at least that's what they believe. Four of us survived, but one had to leave, born into a great responsibility to a far away civilization. Now we work in the shadows to right the many wrongs done to us, and try to prevent Vector from achieving their goals."

Linna sits up, a confused look on her face, "Wait, you're her mother?"

Ryoko laughs a little, Washu looks to Linna and smiles, "Yes, I only look this way because I choose to, and our third member is not blood related, but still family. And my other daughter will show up here sooner or later."

Surprised, Ryoko steps in, "What was that Washu, your other daughter, why have I never heard of this?"

"Don't worry about that right now; I'll tell you later, for now we need to help these three. Why don't you go get us something to drink while I get started?"

"Fine, I'll be back in a minute, but don't think I'm gonna forget about this."

She turns and leaves, and Washu yells behind her, "And make it strong!" She turns back, "I think we all could use a strong drink right about now."

A minute later Ryoko returns with a tray of mixed drinks, and a couple of bottles, "In case we want refills."

She smiles, and sets the tray on a nearby workbench, takes a drink from her own sake bottle before bringing glasses to all of us, except Kosmos, whom is barely coherent. I'm quite concerned about how much she can really help us, "Are you sure you can help Washu, I mean we are not exactly normal humans."

"That's exactly why I can help you, I'm one of the only people on Earth that can, and most of the rest are employed by Vector, now relax." She quickly looks the three of us over, "Ryoko, I'll guide you, but you have to fix Linna's leg." Washu states while she cleans and bandages Linna's wounds, all the while I'm wondering why my shredded remains of an arm is not getting any attention, but my concern for my friends keeps me quiet, for now.

After that Washu moves over to Kosmos, "Kosmos, what's your status?"

"My self-repair systems are offline, primary drive system has sustained eighty percent damage, sensors are offline, and my power reserves are down to three percent. Other than feeling like I was run over by a starship, I'm doing great." She lets out a weak smile, "I need to connect to standby power, or memory loss will start. My external power connections are on my sides, under my arms."

Washu smiles, one of those heartfelt motherly smiles, "That's all I need, now just lie back and try to focus on your sub-space links, we are gonna need your pod to do any serious repairs." Washu hit a few buttons on the lower control panel on Kosmos' bed, and two heavy duty charge connectors come out of the ground, up to bed height, Washu then lifts her right arm, and finds the hidden connector port, "Oh, I'm gonna need to fashion a custom adaptor for this." She looks to me, while walking to one of the workbenches. "Priss, stay with her, keep a close eye on her, don't let her shut down, I'll be as quick as I can."

I walk over and sit on the bed next to Kosmos, I'm truly scared, worried I'm gonna lose her, like she's family, my own sister. I hold her hand tightly with my one good one, softly crying.

Linna looks at me, obviously unsure of what to think, then she turns to Washu, "What about Priss' arm, she's still bleeding and she has to have lost a lot of blood by now."

Washu picks up what looks like a tablet PC, and walks over to Linna and Ryoko, "Don't worry about Priss, she'll be fine, her nanomachines are keeping up with the blood loss, and within a day they should have her entire arm regenerated, it's you and Kosmos that we need to worry about."

She hands the tables to Ryoko, "This should have schematics for these cybernetic limbs, disassemble her leg from the hip down, we're gonna have to fashion a number of new parts, all the tools you should need are in drawers under the bed. I've got to get Kosmos hooked up to steady power."

Linna motions Washu in close, and says quietly, out of my hearing range, "Not just that, I think something else might be wrong, I've never seen her like this before, and we've been good friends for over a decade."

Washu sits down next to Linna and quietly responds, "I'd be the same way if my little Ryoko was lying on that bed instead of Kosmos."

"But she's not... are you saying that..."

Washu smiles, "Indirectly, yes, the spirit of a young girl possesses that android, the spirit of Priss' future daughter, I know exactly how she feels, now don't tell her, this is the kind of thing she has to figure out on her own."

Ryoko goes to work on Linna's leg, and Washu begins creating the necessary adaptors for the charge system for Kosmos.

Within thirty minutes Washu returns to us, and gives one to me, "Connect this to the port under her arm." I do so, and await the results, "Now connect the charger."

After both sides are setup, she flips a switch to start the power feed, and Kosmos' eyes immediately shoot open, and a massive bolt of energy arcs from the deep wound on her leg to what's left of my arm, hurling me into the far wall, and knocking me out instantly.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's 3, and 4 will be up soon. If anyone has any suggestions on a direction I could take this story I'm all ears. I kinda stopped with this one a while ago because it stalled, however, I'd very much like to get it going again, and some good feedback is all that it would take.

On a side note, I will have chapter 5 of Matron Draconus up soon, and the first chapter of my newest one: "My Honor, My Weapon" . Thank You to all those faithfully waiting for more MD


	4. Repercussions

This is a work of fanfiction; I do not own any of the characters, or pre-existing story elements. If anything in here does belong to me, I'll be sure to claim it.

**Cold Steel, Chapter 4**

**Repercussions**

Somewhere, in a very expansive laboratory, a young woman lies prone, restrained to a steel table. As the blonde comes to, a respectably dressed young man enters the room, his presence announced by the hiss of the automatic doors. "Greetings Miss Romanova, glad to see you're finally awake." He says in a calm and somewhat pleasing tone.

Nene, unsure of what happened, or where she is, gets defensive the moment she realizes she is restrained, "Who are you, what are you gonna do with me?"

"Well Miss Romanova, you are going to play the part of my wolf, I felt you needed a purpose in this presentation, and your comrades have already chosen their parts."

Nene, a bit baffled by how this man speaks, and his eerie presence, "I'm not doing anything for you, freak, let me out of here."

The white haired man smiles, his deep maroon eyes easily hiding his true intentions, "Please relax Miss Romanova, you may call me Wilhelm, and you are going to help me stop your friend, Miss Asagiri, from committing any more atrocities against my company."

The realization hit Nene hard, "Vector! You run Vector? Think again, I'll never help you, or do anything to hurt Priss."

Wilhelm steps up next to the table Nene is on, "I'm sorry you feel that way, but you won't have a choice in the matter. As I said before, you will become my wolf, and then I'll send you back into the lamb's pen to deal with your rebellious counterparts. Now relax, you'll see your friends again soon enough." He looks across the table to a previously unseen individual, "Testament, you may begin the upgrades, notify me when the process is completed."

The Testament, in a white cloak and hood, simply nods, and Wilhelm turns and leaves the lab. Nene instantly raises her voice, shouting obscenities, until the Testament brushes a hand slowly over her face, which instantly pacifies her, but leaves her awake and coherent, as the individual starts a process that will forever change her.

Back in the secret underground lab of one of the Universes greatest minds, I finally come to, again, damn this whole getting knocked out thing is getting old. "Wow my head hurts." I brush the hair out of my face, then it hits me, "Holy shit, my arm is back!"

One bed to my right Linna laughs a little, "See Ryoko, I told you she'd flip when she woke up."

Ryoko smiles, gets up and brings a sake bottle over to me, "Here, it'll help with the headache."

I hesitantly take the bottle, and Linna reassures me, "You can relax right now Priss, the girls here have got everything taken care of."

So I take a big drink, and Ryoko says, "Oh, and this is our third member you haven't met yet." And she points to a green haired woman, in an AD Police uniform, sitting at the table Ryoko got up from.

When I see her, I realize who she is, "You! You're..." She smiles and waves, "You're Leon's partner, you pulled a gun on me." I want to get up and fight, but my pounding headache keeps me where I sit.

"Yeah, sorry about that, at the time I didn't know that you and Leon knew each other, I didn't want to blow my cover. But trust me, he gave me a world of shit for scaring you off like that."

She laughs a bit, and I do as well, "Yeah, that sounds like him, how has he been since Daley left the force?"

"Oh you probably know, same old Leon." She takes another drink, and so do I.

Washu enters the room, "Good you're up, I have quite a bit of good news, and some bad news as well, what do you want first?"

I think about it for a minute, "Gimme all the good news first."

"Alright, Kosmos is stable, the repairs are going to take a while though, and Linna is fine, she's ready for anything again." Washu smiles and turns to Ryoko, "Your sister is on her way here, and should be landing in just a little while." This stirs a reaction from the inebriated ex-space pirate. "And I've found where they are holding Nene."

That is a big relief, "Good, let's get ready to go."

Washu cuts in again, "Oh no, not till we're all ready, this will be tricky, to say the least. And the bad news is that Vector has discovered our location, and we will have to leave here within a couple days, possibly sooner.

Ryoko doesn't take that part well, "What, how did they find us, we don't have anywhere else to go, Damnit!"

"Don't worry about that yet, for now we need to get Kosmos back on her feet, and I need your help Priss, to do that."

Wow, I didn't see that coming, "What can I possibly do, I don't know the first thing about her."

"You don't need to, it's your boomers that can help, you can create something that I don't have here in my lab. Now come on, lets get started, we are short on time."

So I get up and go with her to the other end of the infirmary, "Well, I'll do my best, what is it that you need me to make?"

She motions to a PC terminal, "This." The screen shows a detailed design of something, that vaguely resembles an energy weapon, I think.

Immediately my boomers go to work on analyzing and recording the entire design, "What is it, it looks like a weapon."

"Oh its not, it's based off weapons technology, but I've reengineered the designs to a less lethal, more scientific use. It's a form of tachyon wave emitter, and you'll be using it to stabilize a sub-space channel while I retrieve Kosmos' systems pod, which I need to perform the repairs on her."

Um, ok, more nerd that Nene and Mackey put together. "Ok, half of that didn't make sense to me, but if you need it for Kosmos then lets do it, once my boomers are done with the design, I'll make that tachy whachamacallit for ya." I smiled, letting her know that I understood the part that mattered to me.

She brings out a giant extension cord, "Once the wave emitter is finished you can jack-in here to power the system, that kind of power draw could easily kill you."

A short while later my boomers finish the design, "Ok, here goes." and my boomers begin forming it. They start at my right shoulder and work out, turning my whole right arm into what I would call large energy cannon, of some kind. When it's done the others are looking on in awe, and Washu connects the power supply, which instantly gives me a buzz, it feels weird having that much power flow through you.

Washu gets to her computer and sits down, "Alright, I'm gonna start the process, I've traced her sub-space trackers, and found some coordinates to work with, when you see the rift open, just point and fire, I'll tell you when to stop." And she begins.

Back in the other unknown lab, Nene is worn out after hours of crying in pain, "Haven't you done enough to me, I can't take this anymore, just finish me off."

A familiar figure enters the room, "Now Miss Romanova, I'm not going to kill you, we're not in the business of taking lives, we exist to make things better for people, and that includes ruthless terrorists." Wilhelm walks up to the Testament, "How is the process going?"

"Good so far sir, she is taking to the system rather well, by the time she is done, she will far surpass any hard suit ever created."

To Nene that voice is familiar, in an uncanny way she feels as though she knows this person, but can't place a name or face.

"Good to hear, I'll take my leave now, and I do look forward to your final results. Oh, and one more thing, the info has been leaked, so her rescue will be along shortly, and we've found the location of their new hideout, believe it or not, they've sided with the Hakubi's. The presence of that genius may complicate our plans, so install extra potent securities." And then he's gone, as quickly as he arrived.

The Testament looks down to her subject, "Nene dear, you are going to be a very powerful little wolf, Its just to bad you weren't this useful when your gang was whole, now sleep, I've got programming to do.

After almost an hour of waiting I finally see the rift Washu spoke of start to open, so I point the large apparatus on my arm, and fire. A pulsing stream of multicolored energy enters the newly forming rift, and forces it wide open.

Inside I can see the pod she referred to, slowly moving towards me, "Linna, Ryoko, get ready to catch that thing when it's through." Washu yelled, as she worked away on controlling this reaction. In less than five minutes the pod fully enters real- space, and Washu signals for me to stop the energy feed, which I do, and return my arm to normal.

I look at this pod, and the first thing I see is the emblem on the top face of it, "That's Vector's symbol, they made her didn't they!"

My stomach is in knots, I'm angry, and Washu tries to calm me down, "You are partially correct."

"What do you mean partially?"

"Vector will make her, in about five millennia from now."

"What, you mean she's..."

"Yes, the distant future, however, the details still elude me. That is why it took so long for me to get a lock on her pods sub-space signature. Though I do not believe the Vector of now has any knowledge of her."

I'm still pissed, "I need a drink, I'm gonna go outside for some air." I grab a sake bottle and head for the door.

As I'm leaving Washu stops me, "Good idea, and Ryoko can go with you, our guest should be arriving any moment now."

Ryoko gives Washu a piercing glare, grabs another bottle and joins me, heading outside. "Can you believe that woman, the know-it-all acts so smug, just because she manages to figure things out before anyone else, it really pisses me off."

Now there is some definite common ground that Ryoko and I share, this brings a small smile to my face, "Well, do you think this is that sister she was talking about?"

"Sure hope so, I'd like to know who this is, that she has managed to keep from me all these years." So we both head up to ground level, to blow of steam, and meet our mystery guest.

After a rough reentry into atmosphere, a medium sized shuttlecraft lands in a small clearing at the base of a mountain in southern Japan. A tall and quite attractive, blue-haired bounty hunter exits the craft, looking a little flustered.

"I don't know why I'm wasting my time coming here, Ryoko had better be here, and ready to finish the score." She begins walking down the rest of the hill, towards the remains of a house she had come to some time ago.

Upon reaching the house, "Oh, so the rumors are true, the great Masaki home is no more. That explains a lot, except why I'm here.

The air is fresh out here, and the city commotion is miles away, but Vector can still reach us out here, which makes me wonder where we can go to get some peace from Vector's apparent continual attacks. Ryoko is sitting up in a tree, and I'm just relaxing on an old rock, not having much to say to each other, we're just enjoying our momentary peace of mind.

After about fifteen minutes of peace, I spot an individual slowly walking down the hill, towards the remains of the house. "Hey Ryoko, we've got company."

I point to our guest, and when she sees them, her face turns pale. "Aw man, why is she here, now is not a good time for her to be here, Damnit." Ryoko floats down from her branch, and the two of us walk to meet her.

They stop about twenty feet from each other, and I can finally see the others face, and she bears a similar beauty to Washu and Ryoko, only her blue hair is tied back, and she has either a tribal mark or scar on her left cheek.

"Well, well, Ryoko. I'm surprised to see you still here, clinging to your memories of the departed."

Ryoko snaps back at her, "What do you want Nagi, and don't give me that same old here to settle the score line."

Nagi huh, I guess it kinda fits her, she sounds older and more life experienced than Ryoko here.

"You do know that half of the galaxy is looking for you, and your man, the King of Jurai, has nothing to say. You know I've been waiting for this opportunity for many years, but now that I have you where I want you, and no pesky Jurai to save your sorry ass, I don't think I want to end this just yet, and besides, the person who invited me asked if I would wait until our business was done before dealing with you."

It doesn't look like Nagi's taunting is even fazing Ryoko, she is still calm, like nothing is happening. "Well Nagi, you might as well be on your way, I'm not going to fight you, I no longer have any interest in finishing what we started centuries ago, I've changed, and my goals have changed."

"Oh, don't think you're getting out of this that easily, I'm a wanted criminal because of you, for our brief relations in the past, the GXP has placed a bounty on my head equal to yours, you got me into this mess, and the least you can do is fight me Damnit."

Alright this is going nowhere, "Ok you two, chill out, you wanna fight Ryoko, you gotta deal with me too. I'm trying to relax out here, and we're expecting company, so move along bounty hunter, we don't want any trouble."

Then Washu comes up behind us, "This is our company girls." She smiles and looks to the bounty hunter, "Thank you Nagi, for showing up on such short notice."

Nagi simply nods, and Ryoko looks furious, "Washu, you called her here, we have enough shit on our plate as is, why are you trying to start more." Washu smiles again, "Just shut up for a while Ryoko. Alright, lets all go down inside, we aren't safe out here, and if you two start fighting I'll just drop both of you in a sub-space pocket and leave you. We have important things to discuss." Eventually we all head back down inside.

Nene comes to again, still in that Vector lab, only she immediately feels something different, looking herself over she lets out a piercing scream.

She looks like a combat machine of some kind, mainly black, red, and gray, she doesn't know what she's looking at but it's not her. When she tries to move she rolls and falls off the lab table with a resounding, metal to metal thud.

By the time she's on her feet again, the white Testament is back, "Oh, good, you're awake, your party will be along shortly to rescue you, and your upgrades are done. Oh, and don't bother trying to attack me, the new programming will prevent you from attacking anything, or anyone from Vector."

She gives Nene a pocket PC, "Take it, read up, it's got all the data on your new combat forms, you're gonna need it when its time for you to kill the rest of the Knight Sabres." Then she disappears, like she was never there. As Nene looks around, she notices that all of the lab equipment is gone, the room looks abandoned. Nene just sits back on the table, and pouts for a while, unsure of what to do, or what she's going to do, when she's not in control. She resorts to reading the data on what they did to her, hoping to find a way out that they might have missed.

Back down inside the underground lab, everyone is congregated in the machine shop part, where the repairs on Kosmos are happening. Linna is working away on Kosmos, while Washu and Ryoko talk with our guest, and I'm just here to supervise.

Washu starts, "Well, Nagi, I asked you here, because we can help each other, we could really use your help in dealing with Vector, and in turn that will help us clear both records from you and Ryoko."

"Why would I help clear Ryoko's bounty?"

"Simple, while there is a bounty on your head, you can't cash in on any other bounties." Washu grins, Nagi takes another drink.

"Ok, I'm listening, but first who's DNA did you send me, and where did you get it?"

Washu takes Ryoko's bottle and has a couple drinks, "Simple, that's my DNA, I figured you might want some answers to your great question, and don't ask about your father, he doesn't exist."

Nagi seems a little disturbed by that statement, "So that means, you are my mother, I can't believe this." Nagi sits back, takes another drink, and buries herself in thought.

Ryoko is instantly up and in Washu's face, "What is this Washu is that why you brought her here, answer me!"

Washu gets up, and suddenly she looks a lot older, like she could be Ryoko's mother, over six feet tall, she puts an arm around Ryoko's shoulder, "What's wrong little Ryoko, does it burn you up to know that your arch-nemesis is your sister."

Nagi stands up, finally putting two and two together, "Ryoko, this does not change anything, we will settle our score soon enough, but for now, I will help to clear my record, whatever it takes."

Washu grabs Nagi, and hugs them both together, "You two have no idea how happy I am to finally have my two little girls together again, now I hate to rain on my own parade, but we've got a girl here to fix, and another to go rescue, so let's get to work. Just keep in mind girls, when this is all done, we can all have our lives back, for the most part."

"Ok, so these freaks really did a number on me, sub-space linked combat frames, a very advanced neural support computer, but I can't find anything on programming, damn this is so frustrating. I can't go back to my friends as Vector's secret weapon, I've gotta get out of here before they show up to rescue me."

Nene, paced back and forth, talking to herself, trying to make sense of her predicament. "But, Wilhelm said something about a genius; maybe they've got the potential to help, at least with whatever programming will make me kill my friends." She vents some of her frustration, kicking the table she was once strapped to, across the room, destroying it, and deeply denting the wall.

She is surprised by her own strength, looking down at her now mechanical hand, and almost turning in fear, "I...feel...lost." Nene slumps to the ground, overcome by her emotions, she cries, unable to calm herself, she releases years of pent up feelings, all at once.

Less than ten minutes later, the room she is in looks like a hurricane was born in here, and she is lying on the floor, once again crying, she slowly curls her massive mechanical body into a fetal position, and she remains there, wishing only for death, a release from the torture Vector has done to her.

About four hours after Nagi's arrival, the girls are gathering themselves to leave, Kosmos' recovery has gone well, and the crew is loading all important lab gear into an isolated room. It takes only about fifteen more minutes before they're all packed and ready to leave, of course Washu leads everyone to the garage, and I'm the lucky one that gets to drive the truck.

"Alright everyone, lets pile in, and get out of here." Linna drives Nene's car, and the rest of them fit into both vehicles, within a couple minutes we've left, and sealed the only entrance to another old hideout.

To make a long story short, we found a place, it was Linna's idea actually, something that she heard from Nene a while back. A secret underground warehouse that belonged to Genom, of course now it's been stripped, and sealed, but that didn't stop us from getting in. Unfortunately, its only one big room, so much for privacy, but we'll manage.

Once inside Washu makes a very good suggestion, "Alright girls, I'll get to work on an elevator to bring the cars down, I'd like Nagi to stay and help, the rest of you need to go get Nene."

I like that plan, and I'm ready to go now, "Good idea, lets go, Nene's been gone for a while, and there's no tellin' what Vector could have done to her by now."

"Nene...Nene, get up." Nene jumps up looking around, startled by the voice, "Who's there?" She squeaks, a little puzzled by the empty room

Author's Notes:

Well, here is 4, unfortunately 5 hasn't been written yet. I'd love suggestions for new plot material; I've got some ideas, most of which will drag this out into epic proportions, so I need to know if people actually like it before I make it that long.

On a side note I'm finally about half way done with chapter 5 for Matron Draconus.


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